Billy Dib: “I want to fight the Jhonny Gonzalez’s, I want to fight the Mares’s.”

On November 23rd on the undercard for Pacquiao-Rios, Billy Dib will throw down once again with Evgeny Gradovich in hopes of recapturing his IBF featherweight title. Dib lost his title in a 12 round war with Gradovich back in March. The Heavy Bag team got a chance to sit down and interview Dib on our radio show, Tough Talk Tuesday. We asked Dib if he felt any pressure with the rematch being on the undercard of Pac-Rios, he replied, “No pressure at all. I know exactly what I got to do. I’ve been in the ring with Gradovich before, so I know exactly what I’m up against. I know exactly what I have to prepare for and I’m glad that the fight was such a great fight on ESPN that HBO recognized that and that’s allowed the bout to be not only on HBO but too but to be on one of the biggest cards of the year. It’s massive!”

In our interview with Dib one thing was apparent, he wanted to be a television fighter and he felt he made a strong case in his fight against Gradovich. “I took some shots, he took some shots, that’s what made it a great fight. ESPN recognizes this as one of the best fights of the year, HBO recognizes it as one of the better fights that was staged on TV. A lot of people sort of bag me and said he’s not a TV fighter, he’s boring but I prove to the people that I can be just as exciting as Rios’s, as Marquez’s. I can give the fight fans what they want to see and that’s why they blessed me with this opportunity to be back on HBO and to not only be back on HBO, but to be on a fantastic card in front of the whole world and in front of massive viewers for this fight.” Dib continued, “Yeah man, I did sort of fight out of my comfort zone to cater for the people because you know I was away from America for so long. People are saying ‘I don’t know if he is a exciting fighter’. Maybe I did a little wrong but I came in there with a point to prove and I spoke to 50 cent not long ago and he said you’ve proved your heart to the country and what kind of a fighter you are now, you just have to go out there and do the same thing again, just have to do it a little smarter now and make sure you bring the world title back… The truth is for me, let’s be completely honest here, I love being a world champion and I love the fact that ‘you’re a champ you’re a champ’ but it’s not that. It’s that I want to be involved in the big fights. I want to fight the Jhonny Gonzalez’s, I want to fight the Mares’s. Maybe not Abner because he is a close friend of mine but I’m just saying, I want to be in them magnitude of fights. I believe I have proved my worth and I feel that I can stand there in the pocket with these guys and give good fights to the fans.”

The first fight came down to a point deduction and that was the reason Dib lost. I asked Dib what he needed to do differently to win back his title. “For me, it’s basically just coming out there again and hopefully this time around there won’t be any cuts, there won’t be any head butts, it won’t be as gruesome but I believe the intensity will be there. He’s a high punch volume guy and I’m high punch volume guy. So that just makes for another exciting fight. Obviously he’s going to make adjustments, I’m going to make adjustments. It was such a close fight, the last one, you didn’t really know who to give it to. Being the fact that me and him are a hairline away from each other is going to come down to who does it just bit better, bit smarter, who throws a bit more punches. Boxing is a art and I hope to put it altogether on my end and walk away with a great victory and a decisive victory.” Dib exclaimed. “I’m just gonna use more brains. Against a guy like Gradovich you can’t think in your wildest dreams that you’re going to box and move and do stuff because he’s going to suck you into a brawl. If I’m going to brawl, I’m going to brawl smarter. I’m going to be a little smarter this time around… But by NO means am I going to be running away from this guy, that’s not happening. I’m going to fight that’s what boxings about. I feel blessed that I’m back on HBO and on such a big card. This is my opportunity to explode on the world scene.”

Dib-Gradovich 2 is sure to be another crowd pleasing fight. Dib let us know if he wins he would have no problems with signing on for a rubber match. “Growing up as a kid we all got to witness the great Arturo Gatti and he was involved in a unbelievable rubber match against Mickey Ward. I thought to myself ‘wow I wish I can be involved in a fight like that’. In saying that, yeah if I walk away with a victory yeah definitely! If its as gruesome as the first and the fans want to see it again and the money is right, then Hell yeah we can do one more time!” Dib also let us know what he plans are for the future. “Id definitely love to try to unify if unification comes through and if it doesn’t maybe another defense at featherweight and then hopefully move up to super featherweight.”

Love it or hate 50 cent is in the fight game. He has become a promoter and personally I think he is good for boxing. Dib expressed his feelings for his promoter. “I’ve got a lot of faith in 50 Cent. I’ve always had faith in him and he told me after the fight when I did lose Gradovich, 50 Cent told me don’t even worry about it, don’t sweat it, the next fights to be on TV then were going to do the rematch. He gave me his word and we’re here now. His word to me means everything. He made a promise and he delivered. I really believe in 50 Cent as a promoter. He’s one of the baby promoters at the moment but he’s coming up. He is working with the right people.”

One thing is for sure and that is that Billy Dib is ready for war. Be sure to tune into Tough Talk Tuesday for interviews like this one other boxing news. To listen to the full interview click play button below.